I hate going to an unfamiliar grocery store.  I don’t know where anything is and I feel like I’m lost in the wilderness.  Our regular store was closed because of a small fire in the back and they had evacuated everyone.  I’m too impatient to wait so I went a little further down the street to a Schnuck’s market.  I was amazed to learn just how much a good grocery business and a good remodeling business are the same.

Like most of our clients, I had never been to this place before and I was a bit apprehensive about how much it would upset my routine.  The management at Schnuck’s must understand how stressful it can be to walk into a new store where everything is different and nothing works out quite like you think it should.  It took about 5 minutes before a stocking person noted that I was wandering around completely lost and asked if she could be of help.  She asked what I needed, explained the layout of the store and helped guide me through the process of shopping at Schnuck’s.  At the end of my shopping, even after I bought my goods, someone bagged up my groceries and offered to take them to my car!  Although slightly embarrassed that someone thought I should need help, I was intrigued by the unexpected quality of the experience.

I learned that Schnuck’s used the same business model as a good remodeling company!  From recognizing a client’s bewilderment, asking and listening to their needs, walking them through the entire process, properly communicating with them and keeping them important even after the sale, a good company services their client from start to finish.

By the way, even though it’s further away, I shop at Schnuck’s.

Tom Life In General

I used to call it the “Hysterical” Board of Commissioners before I was asked to be on the Landmarks Commission in Kirkwood. I’m in my fourth year and that opinion has changed dramatically. Riggs Construction & Design is a remodeling company after all; we change the appearance of our client’s homes! How dare the “hysterical” board tell me or my client that they couldn’t add an addition on their house that is exactly what we designed and what our clients love?

I’ve come to appreciate the value of the historical buildings here in Kirkwood. They are a link to our past and each building has a story of the people and/or businesses that lived, loved and worked in them. Many aren’t beautiful or classic designs that are pleasing to the eye. In fact, some of them are downright ugly but they are symbolic of certain periods in the development of our town and therefore, hold a great deal of significance.

We at Riggs used to be proud of the fact that when we finished an addition or renovation of a house, you wouldn’t know that we had been there. Our favorite story was the client who said, “It looked like it grew there it matches the house so well. I can’t tell where the old house used to be!” You can imagine how I felt when I first joined the Landmarks Commission and learned that the number one rule of adding to an historical building was to preserve the outline of the original structure! That way people could still see the old building as it was and know that it was added on to after it was originally built.

Now, if the home is older (as most are in the Kirkwood/Webster area) we inform our clients that we need to not align exterior walls and roofs but offset them a little so that the original home is not compromised.

Learn something new every day.

admin Historic Renovation, Life In General

I have a lawn tractor with a snow plow attachment. At 4:00 AM this morning I was driving down the street toward my office to plow the parking lots because I’m too cheap to pay the outlandish prices the plow guys get. Done by 5:30, I headed home to do my own drive and walks, so I didn’t get into the office until 8:00.

At about noon, I’m in a board meeting and got a voice mail from a friend who is moving tomorrow. She wondered if I might plow their new drive so the moving van could make it up the drive to the front door.

I was insulted!!! I was angry!!! I didn’t call her back. Finally my wife called (it’s her friend) and wanted to know if I planned to do their drive. So it was my wife who recommended me … hmmm. I had a full day so it meant doing the work in the evening. Let’s see, up at 3:30 AM working by 4:00 and finishing about 7:30 PM. By the way, plowing with a lawn tractor isn’t like sitting behind the wheel of a truck.

I voiced my opinion to my wife and she had some words of wisdom for me. “Look,” she said, “Don’t do it if you are going to resent them for asking. It would be more damaging to our friendship than you saying no. Just tell them you can’t and give them a landscaper’s name that might be able to get it done today.”

I was tired anyway, my pride a little bruised at being asked because I knew that their two boys and the husband were off because of the snow. I had all kinds of reasons to say no. But my wife’s advice gave me pause. These were friends of ours and they are packing up their house and moving tomorrow. They’ve been working for weeks and weeks to prepare for the big day and they get hit with a huge (by St. Louis standards) snow storm the day before.

So, I took off work a little earlier than usual, got my long underwear back on and plowed away. Who would I be more upset with if I didn’t do it? Me, and I’d still resent being asked. It was the right thing to do and I had the equipment, the knowledge and ability to help some friends. All it took was a little time and effort and although that’s valuable, that’s what friends should do, give their time and effort toward that friendship. It’s the least I could do…

admin Life In General

My dog and I walk the city of Kirkwood twice a day. She’s a year and a half old and we’ve been doing it since the first day she came home with us. I don’t put her on a leash because she can get five times the exercise running around as she can if she were at heel.

People always comment on how well trained she is. She stops at each street crossing until I arrive, heels, comes, stops and sits on whistle command and never, ever bothers other walkers or their dogs. It wasn’t always that way though! It came with consistent training twice a day, every day, so she knows what’s expected of her. It was hard work but it has really paid off in the close bond we’ve formed.

I wish I had known this simple principal when I was younger. I would have been a better father, husband and business owner. All it took to have (or be) a great companion was consistent expectations, patience, understanding and love. It seemed so easy to understand while training my dog but for some silly reason, interacting with humans with the same approach never crossed my mind!

My dog has taught me more than I’ll ever be able to teach her. Thanks Nelly.

admin Life In General kirkwood, Life In General